Christmas 2023 saw attendance figures at the C of E churches in The Bourne Parish south of Farnham return to the pre-pandemic levels of 2018. 

Overall numbers increased by 40 per cent compared to 2021, when services resumed after the compulsory Covid closure. 

But attendance at services aimed at children was particularly strong, growing by 86 per cent compared to 2021, with 440 people attending the crib services at St Thomas’ and 100 at St Martin’s. 210 of these were children.

The traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols also grew by 64 per cent. 

St Thomas’s choir has two interesting events coming up soon, a choir recruitment evening on Friday, January 26 from 5.30pm to 7.30pm and a chance for interested people to have a go at playing the renovated organ in February. 

Child singers in the middle age range, nine and ten year olds, are particularly welcome because the pandemic affected recruitment for that age-group.